Trial of men accused in Somali immigrant bomb plot nears end

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Attorneys are set to make their closing arguments to jurors deciding the fate of three men accused of plotting to bomb a mosque and apartment complex housing Somali immigrants in Kansas.

This Oct. 14, 2016 photo provided by the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office in Wichita, Kan., shows Curtis Allen. Allen is one of three members of a militia group are set to stand trial on charges alleging they were plotting to bomb a mosque and a southwestern Kansas apartment complex IN 2016 where Somali refugees live. Gavin Wright, Patrick Stein and Allen have pleaded not guilty to charges including conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction. Their trial is scheduled to start Tuesday, March 20, 2017 in Wichita. (Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office via AP File)

Patrick Stein, Gavin Wright and Curtis Allen are charged with conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and conspiracy against civil rights in the plot targeting Muslims in Garden City. Wright is also charged with lying to the FBI.

The jury will receive their final instructions and hear arguments Tuesday, before getting the case for deliberation.

The government’s case featured months of profanity-laced recordings. Prosecutors say the men formed a splinter group of the Kansas Security Force militia.

Defense attorneys have said the FBI set the men up and that any talk about violence wasn’t serious.

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